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On her way to the dining rooht countless battles in front of the dais-she scented Giordan So he was here Or had been

A little shiver ran over Narcise&039;s shoulders What had Cezar done with him?

She hadn&039;t been able to dismiss Chas&039;s dire words If he was correct, Giordan&039;s actions had been a sacrifice beyond comprehension She knehat he&039;d suffered as a boy, in the dark alleys, at the hands of , when the worst had happened and she&039;d witnessed the hedonistic scene in Cezar&039;s cha his true self, his real desires

Not so very different from Chas, as revolted by her vaging her for the very thing that disgusted him

It had all made sense to her-or so it had seemed at the time, and confir, but could never admit it

But Chas seemed so certainand if Giordan truly wanted Cezar, why hadn&039;t he come with them when they left Paris?

Narcise&039;s insides had been athe entire trip from London, but now sheand strong to survive whatever punish away

Chas had insisted on coreat dismay and impotent furyyet part of her was relieved to have someone with her She meant to use her influence with her brother to keep Chas fro that she had influence was a nebulous thingbut it was probably the only reason she wasn&039;t engulfed in the fla of the Mark was painful, but not unbearable

Inside the dining rooed since her escapeonly four o

Four months It had seemed a lifetime, even for one as immortal

But achae Suddenly there was a flurry of activity

The next thing she knew, Cezar was there, standing on the dais behind the long table above her Next to him was Giordan, a stony expression on his face He was bare from the waist up and his sleek, tanned skin was marred with bitemarks that made Narcise&039;s stomach turn Two of the marks still oozed, and she could scent his lifeblood

She heard Chas hiss behind her, and suddenly they were separated by a clan of her brother&039;s men-Chas shoved and pulled away, held i her

"My darling sister, I have a confession to make," he said "I do hope you aren&039;t too upset about it, but the truth is, Bonaparte is much too busy with his coronation to actually consider invading England As I&039;d hoped, you took the bait"

Narcise tried to pull away fro as she was "I should have known better than to trust you," she spat

"I could still send my army, if it would ave hilittered with delight

The next thing she knew, they were tearing at her dress The fli the re at the laces, jerking her body every which way as they tugged it loose She stuht theht her arms and pulled them up and away from her torso so that the others could loosen the laces and pull the corset, then Narcise&039;s light linen chemise, from her

They allowed not even her drawers to reht pantaloons that covered her from waist to knee That last bit of shield from avid eyes was yanked away by one of the makes as the other two held her arms out on either side When they were finished, all three stepped back, leaving her to stand there in the chamber completely nude Her skin was roh fingernails, and her hair sagged from its anchor at the back of her neck-unable to be used for any sort of covering

Cezaraway, and now he looked down at her hat could only be described as a vivacious smile on his face "There, now, liest frock I&039;ve ever seen-even you couldn&039;t do it justice-but noe can all see what it is Belial will be fighting for"

Narcise leveled a cool look at him, hardly aware of her nudity She&039;d been thus exposedmore than a distraction Belial hasn&039;t a chance, and you know it Are you certain you wish to lose your most faithful servant?"

Her brother looked at her for a moment, and her heart sank when she saw the crafty look that eased into his eyes "Perhaps you are correct, Narcise My confidence in your ability is profound, and, to my dismay, Belial hasn&039;t the skill tohard now and she, foolishly, glanced at Giordan Their eyes met and the terror she saw in his nearly knocked her breathless His face had gone white and stony, and for ato faint

But then her attention was drawn back to Cezar, who&039;d had a long, lance at Giordan, and then a benevolent smile at Narcise, he said, "But you must be chilled by now, my lovely sister And I haven&039;t properly welco for you" He started to lift the top "No" Giordan&039;s voice was sharp and desperate He sla the metal top back into place His voice was low and unsteady, and she could barely hear hi else, Cezar Naed to her knees, which trelanced at Chas, as held against the wall by one of theith concern or fear, ide and intense As if he were trying to tell her sory with Giordan for his outburst, Cezar seemed amused "My, you are free with your promises now, Monsieur Cale If only you&039;d been so accoo When it reallyup at Giordan with such a baldly lustful expression that her own stomach lurched with revulsion

Giordan&039;s face was shiny and hard and she swore she could hearor feelthe pounding of his own heart as he looked down at her brother Cezarthat she couldn&039;t hear, but that turned Giordan&039;s face gray The ainst a suddenly ashen backdrop and his throat convulsed as he nodded Once Quickly and short

That hen Narcise knew for certain that Chas had been right That whatever had happened with Giordan and Cezar, it had been under duress Her vision wavered and she was assaulted by a rush of grief and shame How could I?

"Stop," she cried Her voice rang out and drew her brother&039;s attention "I need no one to fight my battles for me Release my friends, Cezar, and you&039;ll have whatever you want"

His eyes danced and he smiled "Take the vampir hunter away, then My sister is correct: I have everything I want, right here"

He lifted the lid of the box as Giordan made a sound of protest, but it was too late Narcise realized immediately as inside

Feathers Many of them